Issue 15 - Adaptation to climate change and achieving resilience in East and Southern African drylands

This special issue of Joto Afrika shares the conference outcomes, policy messages and success stories drawn from participants’ experiences in CBA and resilience in the region. The CBA framework shows how integration of resilient livelihoods, disaster risk reduction, adaptive capacity building and addressing underlying causes of vulnerability, all informed by climate knowledge and risks, can lead to effective adaptation. The highly interactive conference included a market place session where participants shared practical experiences and a range of innovative group discussion and learning sessions.

Revitalizing indigenous systems and community safety nets have in the past helped to lift extremely poor households and support communities and households whenever crisis occurred, but more equitable access to new opportunities in communication, technology, diversified livelihoods and risk reduction are also needed. When these are combined with better ability for anticipating future scenarios, targeting the most vulnerable and institutionalizing flexible decision making systems, future resilience in drylands can become a reality.